Typical U.S. Government installations require extensive inventorying of furniture such as chairs, tables, bookcases, cost racks, etc., and equipment such as computers, desk lamps, typewriters, tools, etc. is required. Typically, the inventorying process requires an individual to enter rooms, labs, storerooms etc., where the items of interest are located, and manually recorded on paper these items at that particular location. This information was then entered on a master sheet along with information from current hand receipts to upgrade the inventory records. Such information included the Federal Stock Number, serial number, building, nomenclature, room location, date of last inventory, manufacturer's name, hand receipt holder number, component indicator and manufacturer's model number. A more recent method of inventory control is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,089 entitled "Physical Inventory Scanning and Recording System" issued to George W. Gray on Sep. 14, 1971. The apparatus of this patent is adapted to create a record which may be directly employed by high-speed data processing equipment. The system employs pressure sensitive transducers at the point of storage to continuously measure the weight of inventory items at the point of storage. From the output of the transducers, a record of current inventory is stored in a storage unit which is "on line" with a computer system and which can therefore be accessed quickly. The transducers are read by a scanning device and the information is recorded in a storage unit of the computer to create an inventory record.
Apparatus of the present invention includes a computer, a bar code scanner, an eye level monitor in the form of a headset, a keyboard and a power pack. The bar code scanner includes an internal decoder which receives the analog signal and converts it to a digital signal the computer can interpret along with a software interface driver which allows the keyboardbar code reader to intermix. Each of the above named components are detachably securable to the computer with unique connectors to prevent improper assembly.
Because the computer is provided with a large memory bank, a user taking inventory does not need to carry storage files or constantly refer to another computer. The computer as set forth herein can carry all of the pertinent information.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,884,219, 4,878,046, and 5,003,300 are directed to heads-up display systems attached to the users head and disposed for use with computers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,219 for example, discloses such a heads-up display device which permits the operator to effectively interact with a virtual model generated and graphically displayed by a computer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,046 is directed to a helmet mounted display with a cathode ray tube which generates images for the helmet mounted display. U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,300 is directed to a head mounted display for miniature video display systems and includes specific structure for positioning the display unit in front of either of the viewer's eyes.
Bar-code scanners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,943 which discloses an electronic measuring system for receiving control signals for setting same, is set by a bar-code scanner through an encoder and processor utilizing instructions printed in bar-code form, so that the instruction can be accurately transferred to the microprocessor generating the control signals.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a portable microcomputer system for inventory control.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a microcomputer system with visual read-out means, a bar-code scanner and a keyboard having a software-generated interface means to allow the keyboard and bar-code scanner to intermix.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide the visual read-out means in the form of a lightweight video display device which may be worn on the user's head.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.